24 October, 2011

I have been working on painting all of the resin terrain I own for my Doctor Who project and have almost finished. I have 2 small pieces that nearly done. Over the weekend I primed 2 buildings, a van and a TARDIS. Then I will be finished. Of course then I will have to buy more!

All of the terrain pieces in this post are from Acheson Creations, purchased at the last few Cold Wars conventions. They were all washed in a dishwasher to clean off the mold release agent, primed with Krylon Fusion black spray paint, then a coat of black acrylic paint was brushed on. The ground on all the pieces was painted Vallejo Flat Earth and flocked green. Finally they were sprayed with 2 coats of Krylon Matte Finish to seal them.

All pictures have 1 of the 28mm scientists from my last post to show the scale. Click on the pictures for close-ups.

First is a group of oil drums pieces. The one in the middle is slightly different from the other two. I gave them a drybrush of Howard Hues Middle East Flesh for a rusty look, followed by a very light drybrush of Howard Hues Colonial Khaki and a black wash. Howard Hues paints are thick and great for drybrushing. They also last a long time without drying out, I have some that are over 10-15 years old. I 'borrowed' the color scheme from my friend and fellow gamer Mike Demana. For a lot of great terrain and miniature pictures & tips, see his website at http://home.earthlink.net/~mikedemanagames/.

Next are 2 more pieces of oil drums; these have a tarpaulin spread over the drums. I used the same paint scheme for the drums, while the tarp has several coats of Jo Ann Fabrics craft paint Olive Drab. I bought that color when I was considering the color scheme for my UNIT troops. It is thin and doesn't cover very well so this is the first time I've used it. Both pieces are the same and have opposite sides showing.

Below are 2 pieces of stacked wooden crates. Both pieces are the same but they are positioned to show opposite sides. I used 2 drybrushes of Vallejo German Camo Medium Brown, 1 of Howard Hues Colonial Khaki and a final drybrush of Ral Partha/Iron Wind Grey. They were finished with a black wash and 2 coats of matte spray. The colors look different, the right-hand piece is much darker. I painted them at different times so may have done heavier drybrushes on the left-hand one or even left off the black wash. I suppose it will add a bit more variety to the battlefield.

Next is another version of Acheson's oil drums (on the right) and a set of wooden barrels (on the left). I painted the barrels with the same wood technique as above but left off the final grey drybrush. The bands are painted with Ral Partha/Iron Wind Steel, one of my all-time favorite colors.

Last are 2 larger pieces, a dead tree and a standing stone. I originally bought the tree for use in a camp diorama for a 28mm Gallic army. As the army is still unpainted perhaps it will still be used for that someday! It is painted with the same wood technique as above. The standing stone was drybrushed Ceramcoat Charcoal Grey, Ceramcoat Storm Grey and Ral Partha/Iron Wind Grey, followed by the usual black wash.

I will have some free time this week to take pictures, so I may photograph another 15mm army, it's been a while since I've posted one of those.

20 October, 2011

Today's post features a group of 4 28mm scientists for my Doctor Who project. You can never have too many civilians/hostages/cannon fodder.

The miniature on the left is a Black Tree Designs (ex Harlequin) official DW miniature of Professor Kettlewell. He was the creator of the Robot in the first 4th Doctor story, 'Robot'. I based his clothing on scenes viewed on my ancient videotape recorded around 25 years ago.

I believe the other 3 miniatures were manufactured by Brigade Games, but I threw the packaging away a long time ago. I do know I purchased them in a pack from Brigade at Cold Wars 2010. The one with the blue blouse appears to be leaning to the right in the first photo but it is due to the angle of the shot.

Paints used were a mix of Vallejo, Coat d'Arms, Howard Hues, Ral Partha/Iron Wind and craft paints. The red and blue also have a wash of the original Citadel inks from the 1990s.

Click for a close-up view. Here is the front:

A rear view. Lots of white lab coats!

These were fairly quick to paint. I intend to get some more scientist types as I come across them. I have my eye on the 3 scientist set by Crooked Dice as they look very nice.

I took pictures of a bunch of terrain and my Sea Devils at the same time as these photos, so they will be the subjects of my next posts.

05 October, 2011

This post covers a group of six 28mm security guards for my Doctor Who project. They are Artizan Designs figures, from their 1960s-inspired Kiss Kiss Bang Bang range. The packs I used are KKBB204 (Guards) and KKBB 206 (Guards II). I purchased them from Brigade Games at Cold Wars 2011. That is a quick turnaround for me!

I'll be using these figures for various purposes in my games, from security guards to mercenaries to unwitting tools of alien invaders.

When I was deciding the color scheme, I chose blue for the jumpsuits. Five of the 6 figures have a triangle insignia on the right arm, which I painted yellow. I am a life-long Ohio State Buckeyes fan, and their archrivals are the Michigan Wolverines, whose colors are blue and yellow. So it seems fitting to name this group of evildoers 'Wolverine Security'.

I used a variety of hobby and craft paints, including Vallejo, Ral Partha/Iron Wind, Reaper, Privateer, Howard Hues and Ceramcoat. The jumpsuits are Vallejo Oxford Blue, with a drybrush of Oxford Blue & White on top. The final step in painting is a black wash. My first application of Krylon Matte Finish spray resulted in the dreaded 'frost'. It was removed with a coat of brush-on gloss finish, followed by a repaint of the guns and boots. Two coats of matte spray under less humid conditions, from the same spraycan, and they were done. The figures are all based on slottabases, with metal washers attached on the bottom with epoxy for storage on magnetic sheeting.

I have mixed the 2 packs together and am not sure which figures came in each pack. First group of 3 guards:

Second group of 3 guards:

I like how they turned out. I may add some more figures to Wolverine Security in the future, once I have cleared some of my painting backlog.

For my games I use the Doctor Who Miniatures Game (DWMG) rules, available for free on the internet at http://www.drwhominiatures.co.uk/ and with an active Yahoo group.

04 October, 2011

I have finished some more resin terrain pieces for my Doctor Who project.

Before I get to the new stuff, I realized after my last post that I neglected to include a figure in the photos to show scale. So below is a picture with a selection of the boxes from that post, along with a 28mm Artizan figure.

Next are the new pieces I painted last week. These 3 pieces will form a small graveyard. They are all from Acheson Creations, purchased at Cold Wars 2010 or 2011. To prep them and to remove the mold release agent, I washed them in the top rack of the dishwasher (minus the heated drying cycle). Then I primed them with Krylon Black Fusion spray paint, followed by a thin coat of acrylic black.

I used a series of 3 drybrushes: Ceramcoat Charcoal Grey, Ceramcoat Storm Grey and finally Ral Partha/Iron Wind Grey. The exposed brick was painted in Americana Heritage Brick. The bushes were given a coat of Armory Medium Green and a wash of the original Citadel Green Ink. Finally I gave them each a coat of black wash, then 2 coats of Krylon Matte Finish spray.

I like how they turned out and will probably get a few more pieces from Acheson to expand the graveyard the next time I see them at a convention. A 28mm Copplestone figure is included for scale.